Last Friday, I was visiting Portland to celebrate my belated 21st birthday. My sister took me on this trip with one plan in mind–to get our drank on obviously (it's my rite of passage). We got in the night before and we were so ready to start our adventure. We started our day by heading to Portland's famous Pine Street Market for lunch. We had a Brews Cruise brewery bike tour scheduled for later in the afternoon–did I mention that I barely know how to ride a bike?
Pine Street Market
We took the MAX to Pine Street Market, which is a food hall in downtown Portland located in a beautiful, old, historic building. There are 9 shops selling all kinds of food, from hot dogs to ramen, with communal tables and lights strung across the entire room. It is very industrial and trendy, with an energetic ambiance. My sis and I walked around from food vendor to food vendor, trying to decide what to eat. I decided on some pizza while she got some Korean bibimbop.
Pine Street's Finest
My pizza was from Checkerboard Pizza, a pizza joint that mixes both Italian and New York pizza styles. They also have a bakery section, with gorgeous, shiny pastries and croissants, as well as fresh baguettes. I chose a classic cheese slice, as well as a Feta/chard veggie slice. The veggie pizza was the star of the show, with the chard and artichoke giving it crisp texture with every bite, as well as the Feta giving it a tangy freshness. My sister got the bibimbap from Kim Jong Smokehouse, a Korean street-food restaurant. This Korean restaurant blends both Korean food with Southern BBQ smoking techniques. For those who don't know, bibimbap is a Korean bowl with crisped rice, potato noodles, and vegetables, topped with meat (my sis got shredded pork), some spicy sauce, and a perfectly fried egg with yellow yolk mixing in with the other flavors. We were enjoying the scene as Pine Street Market got more and more crowded. We had our eye on WizBang Bar, an ice cream vendor located in the corner of the food hall. Wizbang is a sister company of Portland's original Salt & Straw (which is one of my fav ice cream places...shoutout to the Abbot Kinney location!). Wizbang has soft-serve ice cream along with other novelties like sundaes and dipped cones. I decided to get the Blue Star Old Fashioned Donuts flavor (which is also another Portland original, and on Abbot Kinney!), dipped in the Coava Coffee and Bourbon cone. Oh my gosh, it was the quintessential coffee and donuts combo! My sis got the Chocolate Fudge soft-serve flavor dipped in the Black Raspberry cone. Can't go wrong with decadent chocolate and tangy raspberry. It was already a perfect start to our Friday adventure.
The Brews Cruise Begins...
After Pine Street Market, my sis and I took a stroll around downtown PDX, and killed some time until our bike tour. At 2pm, we showed up to Cycle Portland, a cute little bike shop selling raunchy socks, bike rentals, tours, and a tiny bar called the HandleBar. Clever, right?! As mentioned before, I barely knew how to ride a bike. The last time I rode a bike was maybe...almost 10 years prior, and it was in a parking lot at that. I guess I missed out on that part of childhood somehow. But, what better opportunity to learn how to truly ride a bike than on the streets of a brand new city, where bikes are seen as cars? And...whilst drinking! Sounds fab and not dangerous at all. After getting fitted for our bikes and helmets, a couple joined us for the tour, along with our tour-guide, Sam. So with the 5 of us ready to go, we started the Brews Cruise.
It's The Bruise Cruise To Me
Not gonna lie, the first leg of the tour was #roughasF%$K! I was shaky and freaking out (internally) while being in between cars on the busy streets of Portland. The first portion of the tour was mostly on a bridge and was pretty hilly. I was struggling with each pedal and turn, and crashed one or twice into the curb. Super sweaty and exhausted, I finally made it to the first brewery, being the last one. Everyone else was as cool as a cucumber and didn't have one ounce of sweat. Meanwhile I was in need of some water, and an ice-cold beer. Our first stop was at Culmination Brewing in a picture-perfect suburb. It was a brewery and a bar, filled with regulars. My sis and I decided to split a flight of the brewery's best. Before this, I have never tasted good beer before (college amiright). But, with the heat and my mouth parched, I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed every single type, and I loved the taste. This relaxed me and gave me some liquid courage. Our group sat and chatted for 30 minutes and enjoyed the beer, and then we were onto the next stop.
The Liquid Courage Sets In
I was feeling more relaxed for our second leg, due to the beer doing its magic, and also we were riding our bikes in more of a suburb-area as opposed to the hectic downtown PDX streets. We got to the second stop, called Basecamp Brewery. I felt like I was in a mountain lodge or if a Patagonia/The North Face store turned into a brewery. My sis and I ordered another flight to split, with one of the beers being a "S'mores" beer, topped with a roasted marshmallow. Again, the beer tasted amaze and I am totally a beer person now. Our group hung out on the benches outside and got to know each other over some brewskiezzzz. I was def more relaxed after this stop, and was ready and confident to ride back.
Take a Pic, It'll Last Longer
The last leg started off in the suburbs, but obviously led back to downtown Portland. We had a huge stretch of the course on a narrow bridge, side-by-side with the cars. I must admit, I was pretty much a ~professional~ at this point. I should probably enter the Tour de France TBH. But anyway, we got to see beautiful views of all of Portland and see the river from the bridge. We made it back to the bike shop and the last part of the tour was a free, complimentary Lompoc beer at the HandleBar, and we got to keep the pint glass! We were all pretty slumped at this point, from our mild exercise and the sun, and of course a lil tipsy. Our group took a polaroid pic together and said our goodbyes.
Drunk, Sleepy, and In Need of Some Voodoo
My sis and I were ready to take the MAX back to the hotel and nap before we got more of our drank on at night, but first, Voodoo Donuts! We had to get some of the famous donuts in the pink boxes before we made it back to our hotel. Plus, nothing like an Old Dirty Bastard donut to sober up. This whole Friday was the highlight of my trip. I was spontaneous, eatin' good, and drinking Portland's tastiest beverage. I would 11/10 recommend this experience to anyone visiting this amazing city, because it definitely makes a perfect Friday in Portland.